Weekly Challenge 153: The Decisive Moment

In 1952, Henri Cartier-Bresson publishes what probably becomes his most famous photo book: The Decisive Moment. For his 4,500-word philosophical preface, Cartier-Bresson took his keynote text from the 17th century Cardinal de Retz: "Il n'y a rien dans ce monde qui n'ait un moment decisif" ("There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment"). "Photographier: c'est dans un même instant et en une fraction de seconde reconnaître un fait et l'organisation rigoureuse de formes perçues visuellement qui expriment et signifient ce fait" ("Photography is simultaneously and instantaneously the recognition of a fact and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that express and signify that fact").

In an interview with the Washington Post in 1957 he told the reporter: "There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative," he said. "Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever".

For this 153rd Weekly Challenge at PF.com we want to pay our tribute to Henri Cartier-Bresson (for the Wiki link see here, but there is much more to find on the net!) with our own photos depicting "The Decisive Moment". Note: this does not (I say NOT) imply only street shots are eligible!

Challenge ends next Sunday 12 December at midnight

The fine print....
1. Post ONE photo (max 1024x1024).
2. The photo must portray an interpretation of the theme.
3. Post your single picture in this thread, and explain what motivated you to take the picture and/or how you feel it represents the weekly theme (especially if it's not obvious).
4. The challenge is interactive. Any response is welcome.
5. The judge will pick the WINNERS and choose 1 of them to be the judge for the next week.
6. This challenge runs for 7 days plus a day for the judge to choose the winners.
7. Any Pentax camera will do or a Samsung DSLR.
8. Pictures can be from any time frame, not just within the week of the current theme.

Previous Challenge Subjects:
1-Statues, 2-Wheels, 3-Speed, 4-Peace, 5-Survival, 6-Macro, 7-Mountains, 8-Children, 9-Post Processing, 10- Windows & Doors, 11-Sport, 12-Urban Landscape, 13-Wisdom, 14-Power, 15-Music, 16-Pathways, 17-Lines, 18-Storm, 19-Boats, 20-Water, 21 - Golden Hour, 22 - Natural Lighting, Portraits, 23-Motion Blur, 24-Simplicity, 25-Color, 26-Cars, 27-Repetition, 28-Wildlife, 29-Epiphany, 30-Contrast, 31-Pets, 32-Landscapes, 33-Coastal, 34-Churches, 35-Bridges, 36-Creation, 37-Still Life: Food, 38-At the Zoo, 39-Wide Aperture, 40-Merry Christmas, 41- Sunsets, 42-Action, 43-Fireworks, 44-Manipulated Light Portraits, 45- Advertising/Product Shot, 46- B&W Street Shooting, people/buildings, 47-Vanishing Point, 48-Reflection, 49-Tranquility, 50-Expressions, 51-S Curve, 52-Hands, 53-Shadows, 54-Your Favorite Beverage, 55-Barriers, 56-Perspective, 57-Night Scenes, 58-Zen-like...Water and Stone 59-Modern architecture, 60-Sunrises, 61-Red, 62-Action on water, 63-Bodies in Motion, 64-Ruins, 65-Blue and green, 66-Iridescence, 67-Anthropomorpha, 68–Sound, 69-Backlight, 70-Group Shot, 71-Railway Scenes, 72-Technology, 73-Color on Color, 74-History, 75-Autumn/Harvest 76-working men and women, 77-Silhouettes, 78 Stranger Portrait, 79-Transportation, 80 - Lonely, 81 - Holidays, 82 - Toys 'n Games, 83 - Machines, 84 - Ice, 85 - Cats, 86 - Stories, 87 - Cultures, 88 - Absence, 89 - Weather, 90 - Old roads, 91 - The River, 92 - The Seventies, 93 - Beautiful Bokeh, 94 - Balance, 95 - Crop a miniature landscape, 96 - Opposing gravity, 97- Feet, 98 - Sacred Grounds, 99 - Extraordinarily Ordinary, 100-added textures, 101-still life, 102-bicycles, 103 - Broken, 104- Flowers (B&W), 105 Backlighting, 106-Water. 107-Wind, 108-Parent/Child candids, 109-Passion, 110-Events, 111-Streets, 112-The Aged, 113-Fire and Heat, 114-Nature vs. Culture, 115 - Letters or Numbers, 116 - Self-Portrait, 117 - The Tree, 118 - Minimalism, 119 - Rust, 120 - Before & After, 121 - Negative Space, 122 - Decay & Dereliction, 123 - Cold, 124 - Melancholy, 125 - The Element of Time, 126 - Public Transportation, 127 - Yin Yang, 128 - Sepia or Dual Tone, 129 - Hand Coloring, 130 - Light Trails, 131-Once in a lifetime, 132 - Moms & Motherhood, 133 - Beautiful Blur, 134 - B&W Abstract, 135 - History, 136 - In and around the kitchen, 137 - Habit, 138 - Perspective: From the Ground Up, 139- Mist/fog, 140 – No faces, 141-Bubbly, 142- The 'hood, 143-Green, 144-Garbage, 145-Emotion, 146 - Events, 147-Seasons. 148-Building and/or Construction 149-Chiarouscuro, 150-A Day In The Life, 151 - Religion, 152 - Home, 153 - The Decisive Moment

[atupdate]

No indecision here...



Tim

[Paleo Pete]

Strange that I was out trying to capture this decisive moment a day or two before the contest started. It's a fine line...the decisive moment for the photographer, is of course when to *CLICK*...the decisive moment for the subject is sometimes much more elusive.

Here is what I think is the best portrayal I got of the decisive moment for these pelicans. My problem was having them already in the viewfinder and picking the right time to...*CLICK*

Taken with K-x, Lentar 90-230 lens, full zoom 230mm at f11, on 12/4/2010

Dive In!



Click image to view full size.

[VaughnA]

Uncle Harold doing what he does best at the family reunion.

[Bramela]

This Cockatoo was sitting in a tree behind my back yard. (we get lots of them). I was about to click the shutter when he took off in a dive off the branch.
Just clicked at that moment. Fluked shot!

Attached Images

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[bbluesman]

This Cockatoo was sitting in a tree behind my back yard. (we get lots of them). I was about to click the shutter when he took off in a dive off the branch.
Just clicked at that moment. Fluked shot!

Got some nice delineation on the tail feathers Bruce.

[Bramela]

Thanks, mate.

[wllm]

On a cold winter day 2009, this actually a kind of snapshot, I saw that woman tapping water, no time for checking the camera settings, click!
La Bollente is a sulphur well in the centre of Acqui Terme, the water is 75°C, in the winter it's steamy.

[bbluesman]

On a cold winter day 2009, this actually a kind of snapshot, I saw that woman tapping water, no time for checking the camera settings, click!
La Bollente is a sulphur well in the centre of Acqui Terme, the water is 75°C, in the winter it's steamy.

Very compelling shot even though overblown in the background. Good one!

[bbluesman]

I'd like to use this one for judging

[Rense]

I'd like to use this one for judging

Took notice....

[rob1234]

K10D, DA18-55 @ 26mm, 1/50 @ f/8, ISO1000, fill-in flash

[Iris]

Took this picture on the 5th of May during our liberation festival.
There was a band performing and these people were in the crowd.
Could take one shot!

[jheu02]

This summer, a friend and her daughter were at the beach with us playing in the surf. I waited for just this type of shot with mom lifting her out of the way of a wave. They'd left their camera at home, so I wanted to get some shots for them to remember their vacation.

[rparmar]

telecommunication



A Traveling Nifty Fifty Shot.

[NaClH2O]

great shot Robin.

NaCl(Sunday's on the phone to Monday, Tuesday's on the phone to me)H2O